Caribbean Revels: Haitian Rara & Dominican Gaga

Various Artists - International - Caribbean & Cuba | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000001DK4
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,775 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #35 in Music > Indie Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba
  • #46 in Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Haiti
  • #85 in Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Dominican Republic

Editorial Reviews

Throughout the week before Easter, roads all over Haiti swell with bands of revelers, dancers, singers and percussionists, travelling from vodou temples to their villages. Rara and gaga are wildly festive sounds, featuring unusual percussion and wind instruments, and often bawdy lyrics. These remastered recordings from the streets, plazas and cemeteries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic are accompanied by extensive notes by Verna Gillis and Gage Averill. Reissue of Folkways 4531.

"Rara es el nombre dado a la celebración rural que tiene lugar cada año en Haití entre el Miércoles de Ceniza y el Domingo de Pascua. La selección presentada aquí representa la variedad de música vocal e instrumental que acompaña la danza, las piruetas con bastones y las actividades rituales llevadas a cabo durante el Rara por hombres, mujeres y niños vestidos con brillantes colores. La palabra Gaga es usada en República Dominicana por los haitianos que practican sus propias celebraciones de Rara; la palabra es un término criollo que se aplica a alguien que no se considera esté en un estado mental 'normal'..."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Original Haitian music., November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Caribbean Revels: Haitian Rara & Dominican Gaga (Audio CD)

If you want the "real thing" when it comes to "Roots" music from Haiti, this album is a good introduction. This album reveals the spritual roots of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The African roots of Dominican culture are on display in tracks 8 to 14. The most recomended tracks are: Number 2, number6 and number 8. Have fun discovering and exploring African culture in the Caribbean with out all the negative popular stereotypes.

5.0 out of 5 stars With great notes, too, January 26, 2010

By 

R. Mcbride "websmith" (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caribbean Revels: Haitian Rara & Dominican Gaga (Audio CD)

And don't miss the excellent notes by ethnomusicologists and music producers Verna Gillis and Gage Averill. Gotta love Folkways/Smithsonian for their liner notes as well as their fabulous recordings.